The spinning top, a classic children's toy, has existed for centuries. Conventional tops typically have a concentrically balanced body usually tapering to a pointed bottom tip, which allows the top to rotate on a flat surface about a spin axis. There have been numerous variations on the basic design, particularly with regard to body configurations optimizing its balance as well as means for initiating the rotation of the top.
A top can be spun by standing it upright on its tip and rotating it by hand (e.g. between a thumb and index finger). Alternatively, a top can be spun with a pull-string wrapped around the outside of the top. With the top standing on its tip, the top may be spun by pulling on a free end of the pull-string to impart a rotation to the top. Alternatively, when wound with such a string the top can be thrown outward to a flat surface while holding onto a free end of the string. This also causes the top to spin separately from the string.
However, such tops are usually intended for very small children who often do not have great manual dexterity or patience. When the top is the type which requires the string to be wrapped in a single layer along a sloped side of the top, young children may be frustrated by the process of winding the string.
Some tops were therefore designed with a deep circumferential groove transverse to the spin axis in which the pull-string was disposed, much like a yo-yo groove. See e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,610,439; 2,614,364; and 3,413,753. Such grooves permitted the string to be quickly wound around the top even by those having little manual dexterity. However, because the grooves were deep and narrow, there were problems securing the inward end of the pull-string to the top.
For example, the first end could be temporarily held outside of the groove and then overlapped by subsequent windings, as mentioned above. However, the string could jerk backward as the trapped first end was released.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved spinning top design.